Shoes and foot supporting portions thereof



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y 1957 K. D. scHwARz 2,798,310

SHOES AND FOOT SUPPORTING PORTIONS THEREOF Filed Dec. 8, 1953 INVENTOR H 1 (10:5 0-50]! warz ATTORNEY U d 1 168 Patent- O SHOES AND FOOT SUPPORTING PORTIONS THEREOF Klaus D. Schwarz, Munich, Germany Application December 8, 1953, Serial No. 396,927

6 Claims. (Cl. 36-;8.5)

My invention relates to improvements in shoes and shoe sole formations, etc., for humans andit has'for'its primary object to guard against foot ailments and shoe distortion produced by improper weight distribution when walking, the invention being particularly applicable-to shoes having raised heels, although not limited thereto.

More specifically stated, the invention contemplates the provision, in a shoe, of means whereby the wearers weight projection as he or she walks will conform to the parabolic weight distribution curve produced *by a correctly walking, normal footed person, walking barefoot. This parabolic weight distribution curve extends from a point adjacent the mid-portion of the heel and along a part of the outer edge of the foot, and then curves inwardly to terminate at approximately the first joint of the great toe. Such weight distribution curve is known as the rolling off curve of the foot when walking, and will be so referred to hereinafter.

When walking wearing shoes with raised heels, thereis an abnormal tendency toward distribution of weight forwardly along the outer side of the foot so that the rolling oif or weight projection curve ceases to 'be a curve at all, but rather takes on'an'L-form with the foot of the L leading to the region of the joint of the great toe. This means that the wearer will either consciously or unconsciously seek to overcome this"-rol-ling off curve distortion and certain "foot ailments will result, or the shoe will be run over sideward and .foot ailments will also occur, all as will be better understood hereinafter.

The invention also resides in certain novel features of construction, combination and arrangement of thevarious parts and in modes of operation, as willbe understood and appreciated by those versed in the art upon reference to the accompanying drawing which shows a preferred example of my inventive concept.

his to be understood, however, that the invention may be carried out otherwise than disclosed by the drawing within the spirit and scope of the subject matter claimed hereinafter.

In the drawing, wherein the same reference characters have been used to designate the same partsthroughout the several views Fig. 1 illustrates a human barefoot foot print, the parabolic full line curve applied thereto indicating the normal line of weight projection from the heel forward (known as the rolling off curve) as the individual walks barefoot, or when Wearing a shoe without a raised heel;

and the dotted line indicating the distortion of said normal rolling olf curve line which results when walking while wearing standard shoes with raised heels;

Fig. 2 is .a plan view of a heel incorporating shoe sole embodying my invention; and showingthe outer surface thereof;

Figs. 3, 4, and 6 are cross-sectional views taken on the lines 33, 4-4, 5-5 and 66 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 7 is a side elevational view of a shoe having applied thereto the heel-incorporating sole of Fig. 2;

Fig. 8 is a rear elevation of the shoe of Fig. 7.

Fig. 9 is a detail VifiW of a modification of invenice 2 tion wherein the bottom of the sole has a raised portion, at a single point only.

Referring to Fig. -1 of the drawing, which discloses a print of a bare human foot, but which may be'otherwise taken as disclosing the weight distributing or supporting portions of the'bottom of a human foot, the curved line 10 which originates at 13 adjacent the mid-portion of the heel and runs along. a portion of the side of the foot curving inwardly to its point 14 of termination which is at approximately thefirst joint of the great toe, is what is known as the rolling off curve of the foot when Walking.

Still referring to Fig. 1, the dotted line 15 shows how walking in shoes with raised heels tends to produce an excess of forward throw of weight, so that the walking off curv'e line 10 becomes L-shaped with the foot portion 15a of .the L terminating at the point 14 indicating approximately the first joint of the great toe. Thus, there is a tendency to run the shoe over sideward and the wearer either unconsciously attempts to preserve the walking off .curve 10 or hesimply allows the inordinate sideward throw of weight to occur. Either course results in foot ailments as will be explained hereinafter, and if the weight projection when walking is permitted to follow the dotted line 15, 15a for any length of time, a sideward running over of the shoe is inevitable.

According to one form of the invention illustrated in Figs. 28,.inclusive, the shoe which is generally designated as at 16 'in Fig. 7 and provides the upper 17, heel 18, and .sole '19, has the outer surface of the heel and sole provided with the sloping surfaces 20, 21 indicated in Figs. 2-6, inclusive. Thus, considering the bottom plan view (Fig. 2), the outer or ground-engaging surface of the heel slopes gradually inwardly (20), as indicated by contour lines 20a beginning from a point adjacent the longitudinal center of said outer heel surface and toward its outer edge. and forward outer corner. As to the outer surface of sole 19, its forward portion is plane as shown. However, the forepart of the shank area of sole 19 has the wedge area 21 which comprises the descending and gradually widening sloping portion extending from the raised outer rear corner of said sole toward the location (14) of thefirst joint of the great toe but terminating short of such point, as shown by contour lines 21a. The first jointof the great toe (indicated by point 14) is, as hereinbefore indicated, the terminal point of the rolling off curve 10.

-As earlier stated herein, it is common knowledge that the normal and proper weight project-ion in the human walk, known as the rolling off curve 10 of the foot runs in a parabolic curve 10 from the heel along the outer edge of the foot to the first joint (14) of the great toe (Figs. 1 and 2) when walking barefoot. But with shoes having raised heels the rolling oif curve of the foot in Walking is bent downward as at 10a (Fig. 7) at its outermost salient, most of all at the fifth metatarsal joint (indicated at 22, Fig. 1). The rolling off curve 10 is thereby stretched to tend to spread the foot in an outward direction and the curve 10 is thus transformed into the two straight lines 15, 15a (Fig. 1) forming an angle with one another. New this occurs when wearing raised heel shoes Will be better understood-when it is realized that the binding effect of the upper 17 across the foot at approximately the line of the fifth metatarsal joint prevents forward movement of the foot relatively of the shoe sole.

In order to counteract the consequent sagging of the outer front part of the footinconsequential as it may see-rnthere is a tendency to turn the leg inward from the L form indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 1.

Thus, what the present invention has done as to the heel shoe sole as shown in Figs. 2-5, inclusive, Ihave pro- I vided the forepart of the shank portion with a wedge area extending toward the inner edge of the sole from the line which latter indicates the walking off curve. This wedge area slopes in the direction of the inner edge of the shoe sole and may be provided with the sole when manufactured, or it may be built up with leather or otherwise as the material after the shoe has been manufactured. This active wedge area tends to throw the foot-curved weight in an inward and forward direction when walking, so as to maintain the walking off curve 10 and not cause the said true weight projection curve 10 to take In other words, the path of the weight applied to the sole and by the sole to theground will, with my built up wedge area, follows the true walking off curve 10 which is indicated in Figs. 1 and 2. In other words, there has been provided a wedge for this purpose in the forepart of the shank area of the shoe.

Referring to the modified form of the invention shown in Fig. 9, the heel slope remains as in Figs. 2 and 6, to support the rear portion of the rolling off curve 10. However, in Fig. 9 the portion of such curve 10 which occurs in the sole 19 of Fig. 9 is not supported by a continuous, externally built-up slope 21 as in Fig. 2, but rather by the outwardly protruding knob 23 located at approximately the site 22 of the fifth metatarsal joint head of the foot. This knob 23 substitutes for the builtup slope or wedge 21 of Fig. 2 may be applied to the heavy sole 19 of a mans shoe which sole will not be ultimately deformed by the presence of knob 23. The depth of knob 23 will, of course, be sufiicient to cause the same forward and inward wearer weight-projection as does the wedge 21 of Figs. 2, 3, 4 and 5. Thus, it will be understood that knob 23 applied to the heavy sole 21' at approximately the site 22 of the fifth metatarsal joint of the foot cooperates with said sole to support the rolling off curve 10 at the point where same tends to sag into the L-form shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1. Knob 23 can be readily replaced when worn and this facilitates application of the invention to shoes which are not factory made to embody the present invention.

It is to be noted that the heel surface slope 20 is important in that it starts the weight projection along the socalled rolling off curve 10 and as a result obviates possibility of foot strain at the site of the heel.

However, the load-supporting surface of the heel can be left plane as in the ordinary shoe, and the sloping sole surface 21 or the knob 23 of Fig. 9, when used, will prevent said curve 10 from degenerating into the L-shaped It is important, in order to achieve the benefits noted,

that the outermost side surface of knob 23 (Fig. 9), meaning that nearest the outer edge of the shoe, and the corresponding outer or lateral limit of slope 21 (Fig. 2) at point 22 shall be inwardly of the plane of the load-supporting surface of the heel.

The major load supporting sole portion, as referred to in the claims, may be described as that portion which extends from the heel-adjacent shank portion and the ball of the foot at approximately the site of the metatarsal toe joints.

From the foregoing it is believed that my orthopaedic shoe development will be fully understood and appreciated.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In a shoe, means for supporting the foot comprising a raised heel having a lower surface sloping upw ardly 4 from its longitudinal center line toward the outer edges and forwardly to the outer front corner, and a sole having a wedge on the outer surface of the forepart of the shank area, said wedge sloping downwardly on each side of a forwardly convex line which extends from approximately the outer rear corner of the foresole portion to a point which approximately underlies the first joint of the great toe of the wearer, whereby to effect inward and forward projection of the wearers weight when walking.

2. In a shoe, means for supporting the foot comprising a raised heel having a lower surface sloping upwardly from its longitudinal center line toward the outer edges and forwardly to the outer front corner, and a sole having a wedge on the outer surface of the forepart of the shank area, said wedge sloping downwardly from at least the inner side of a forwardly convex line which extends from approximately the outer rear corner of the foresole portion to a point which approximately underlies the first joint of the great toe of the wearer, whereby to effect inward and forward projection of the wearers weight when walking.

3. The structure set forth in claim 2, and which line further extends through a foresole point which substantially underlies the fifth metatarsal joint head of the wearers foot.

4. In a shoe, means for supporting the foot comprising a raised heel and a sole portion, said sole portion having a wedge on the outer surface of the forepart only of the shank area and commencing at a point spaced forwardly of the heel and adjacent the rear portion of the foresole area, said wedge sloping downwardly from at least the inner side of a forwardly convex line which extends from approximately the outer rear corner of the foresole portion to a point which approximately underlies the first joint of the great toe of the wearer, whereby to effect inward and forward projection of the wearers weight when walking.

5. In a shoe, means for supporting the foot comprising a raised heel and a sole portion, and a downwardly extending thickening portion of substantial depth externally secured to said sole at approximately the site which supports the fifth metatarsal joint head of the wearers foot whereby to effect inward and forward projection of the wearers weight when walking.

6. In a shoe, means for supporting the foot comprising a raised heel having a lower surface sloping upwardly commencing at its longitudinal center line toward the outer edge and forwardly to the outer front corner, said heel at the opposite side of said longitudinal center line providing a plane surface for supporting engagement with the ground or other supporting surface as when the wearer is standing still, and a sole having externally secured thereto a downwardly extending thickening portion of substantial depth at approximately the site which supports the fifth metatarsal joint head of the wearers foot whereby to effect inward and forward projection of the wearers weight when walking.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,126,038 Leonard Jan. 26, 1915 1,232,790 Gilbert July 10, 1917 1,571,106 Burger Jan. 26, 1926 1,602,203 Pietzuck Oct. 5, 1926 1,602,637 Barva Oct. 12, 1926 2,021,067 Johnson Nov. 12, 1935 2,137,459 Piekenbrock Nov. 22, 1938 2,345,820 Kohn Apr. 4, 1944 FOREIGN PATENTS 234,632 Great Britain June 4, 1925 391,330 Great Britain Apr. 27, 1933 1 6 F an 

